THESEUS AND THE LEGENDS OF ATTICA 557Finally, between Eleusis and Athens, Theseus met the brigand Procrustes
(his name means "the stretcher"),^18 who possessed a hammer, a saw, and a bed.
He compelled travelers to lie on the bed, and those who were too long for it he
would cut down to size; those who were too short he would hammer out until
they fit it exactly. He too perished at Theseus' hands in the way in which he had
killed his victims.THESEUS IS RECOGNIZED BY AEGEUS
Theseus' arrival at Athens is dramatically described by the lyric poet Bacchylides
of Ceos. In reply to the citizens' questions, Aegeus speaks (Bacchylides,
Dithyramb 18. 16-60):f
"A messenger has come, traversing the long road from the Isthmus; incredible
are the deeds of a mighty man that he relates. This man killed violent Sinis,
strongest of mortals. He killed the man-slaying sow in the glens of Crommyon
and killed the cruel Sciron. The wrestling ring of Cercyon has he suppressed;
Procoptes [Slicer, i.e., Procrustes] has dropped the mighty hammer of Polype-
mon [Troubler, i.e., Procrustes' father?], for he has met a more valiant man. I
fear what this news portends." "Who is this man?" [ask the citizens, and Aegeus
continues]: "Two companions only come with him, says the messenger; upon
his shoulders he wears an ivory-hilted sword and in his hand he carries two
polished spears; upon his red-haired head is set a Spartan cap, well-made;
around his body he has cast a purple tunic and over it a woolen cloak from Thes-
saly. From his eyes darts blood-red flame, as from Lemnos' volcano. Yet he is
but a youth in his first prime, whose skill is in the delight of war and the brazen
blows of battle. In quest of shining Athens does he come."Theseus' arrival was hedged with further danger. Aegeus was married to
Medea, who expected their son Medus to succeed as king of Athens. Medea im-
mediately recognized Theseus as Aegeus' son and a rival to Medus, and at-
tempted to have Theseus poisoned before Aegeus could recognize him. She ad-
vised Aegeus that the newcomer would be a threat to his power. He should
entertain Theseus at a banquet where he would drink poisoned wine, for which
Medea would provide the poison. Theseus at the banquet carved his meat with
the sword that he had recovered from under the rock at Troezen; Aegeus rec-
ognized the sword, dashed the cup of poison out of Theseus' hand, and pub-
licly recognized him as his son and successor.
Pallas, brother of Aegeus, and his sons had hoped and plotted to take over
Aegeus' power and resorted to violence upon Theseus' recognition. Theseus
killed all the members of one of the two groups into which they had divided,
and Pallas himself and his surviving sons ceased to be a threat.THE BULL OF MARATHON
Theseus' next labor was to catch the bull of Marathon, said to have been the one
that Heracles had brought from Crete. He mastered the bull and drove it back